Star Struck
by Dior Crystal
Summary: When Deidara receives an opportunity to act in a big movie, he jumps at the chance- Only to find out that his rival, the famous Itachi Uchiha, will be his costar. Someone up there must really hate him. AU. ItaDei. Yaoi.
1. The Opportunity

**Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine. It's owned by Masashi Kishimoto.

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><p><em>He had always known that he was destined for greatness. That his art would be recognized.<em>

"_And the nominees for the Best Actor category are..."_

_He did not even need to listen to what Minato had to say to know who the nominees were. What was important was the announcement of the winner._

_Deidara leaned back in his seat, arms folded across his chest, and a smirk on his face. As usual, he had his hair tied up in a half-ponytail with his fringe covering part of his face, his aura exuding his usual confidence with just a hint of smugness. His usual sense of pride for his art was present as well, and yet, there was something different about him tonight. He was not dressed in his usual attire, and he had never felt this good in years. Tonight, he wore a black suit complete with a blue tie. Everyone else that were gathered here were dressed in their best as well. All around him, the women went all out, wearing jewellery, make-up and gowns by well-known designers, while the men wore classic, understated suits. It was a sight to behold. _

_It was, after all, a special occasion. A special occasion where people would acknowledge him and his art._

_Just a few years into the acting business, and he was finally getting recognized. At the age of fifteen, Deidara had dropped out of school in order to pursue his passion for acting, much to the displeasure of his parents. He respected all forms of art, but acting, acting was what he truly loved – he could hardly care about anything else. At the beginning, he had starred in small movies and had small roles before steadily making his way up, getting more and more prominent roles as the years went by. It was difficult, and there was a lot of competition, but with the latest movie that he had starred in, "The Outbreak", people had started to know his name, to acknowledge him, and the award that he was about to receive was proof of this._

_This, everything about this... It all felt so damned good._

"_The winner of this category is..."_

_A hush fell upon the crowd. Deidara sat up a little straighter, anticipation curling up into a tight ball inside of him, the smirk on his face growing. He could even feel a bead of sweat slide down his neck - he was that excited. This was it. This was the moment that he had been waiting for. Recognition. Acknowledgement. There was no way he could lose. He had given his all in the movie. He had had most of the audience in fucking tears when the scene of his death came about. Confident, Deidara rose from his seat, ready to claim his award, when-_

"_... Itachi Uchiha."_

_What?_

_"The winner of this category is Itachi Uchiha."_

* * *

><p>Itachi Uchiha.<p>

World famous actor, businessman, and model. Good-looking and talented, Itachi had it all. He was born into a good family, a family where there was a long line of talented actors and actresses. He was known and well-loved by all. Both men and women alike loved him. Children loved him. Even the elderly loved him. Should a person utter his name, it was only normal for gushing about his accomplishments to follow. From the moment he had become an overnight success with his first movie when he was only eight years old, Itachi's fame rapidly grew.

Now, at the age of twenty-two, the man had a long list of accomplishments. His movies always did well, his acting was always praised. He had his own designer brand. People would pay him millions just to model or advertise for a product of theirs. He had shelf upon shelf of awards. He was easily the highest paid person in the entertainment business. His salary, in one year, was in hundreds of millions, most of which he would donate to charity.

Itachi Uchiha was a name that just about everyone knew and loved.

Of course, there would always be those that disliked him. Those that thought that he was overrated, that he was just another good-looking face with nothing else to offer. Deidara was one of them. He disliked Itachi. He _hated_ him.

To him, Itachi was his rival.

And it had been that way for years now.

* * *

><p>Oh, that was it. Deidara closed the book that he had been reading and rubbed his temples, feeling exhaustion tugging at his bones. There was no way he would be able read, especially not with that racket going on. Honestly, that bastard should have some consideration. Scowling, Deidara looked over his shoulder. Just listening to <em>that<em> man's voice playing on the television speakers was enough to make his blood boil.

"Hidan, turn the TV off."

"What? I'm at the best part!"

"I don't care. Just turn it off, un! It's annoying me!"

"... How the hell is a TV able to annoy you?"

Deidara could feel his eye twitch. _If you want something done, you have to do it your own damned self_. Hidan could be such an idiot at times. Fed up, he stood up and walked over to the couch that Hidan sat upon.

"Seriously, you should watch this with me. That Itachi dude is fucking amazing here! Did you see the way he just shot that guy without even batting an eyelid?"

Deidara picked up the remote control.

"And that is exactly why I won't watch it with you."

He turned the television off, causing the screen to go blank right when there was a close-up of a raven-haired man.

"Wha-? What the hell, Deidara-chan?"

But Deidara was having none of that. "I told you to turn it off. This is my apartment, we go by my rules, hm." He scowled. "When are you going to go back home? It's already late, and I need my sleep!"

"Geez, just because you don't like the guy..." Hidan muttered.

Deidara glowered at him. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Hidan held his hands up. Once he was sure that Deidara was not going to hit him, he spoke again. "You know." A smirk took over the annoyed expression that was present on Hidan's face just a moment ago. "You really should be nicer to me, Princess."

"Shut up and move," Deidara ordered.

Hidan did so, allowing Deidara to plop himself down next to him.

"I don't even know why an idiot like you are my manager, un," the blond grumbled as he laid back against the cushioned seat.

"It's because you love me."

"Fuck you."

Yes... That was right. You had read that sentence correctly - the idiot part, not the love part, mind you. The idiot that was currently lounging on his couch, eating his chips and drinking a bottle of beer was his manager. He did not know why he did not just fire the bastard. Hidan was loud, annoying, rude, an idiot, a heavy drinker and smoker, and he gave Deidara stupid nicknames for the heck of it. In short, if Deidara were to ever get high blood pressure, Hidan would be the reason for it.

The thought of firing Hidan had occurred to him many times, but getting another manager was too troublesome, and besides, even if he was annoying, Hidan did his job well. Also, Hidan was the one who had spotted him and brought him into the world of acting, so he was grateful to him for that. Though it took awhile, they were now finally able to talk to each other without tearing each other's throats out. Most of the time.

Really, it was a miracle that Hidan was still alive right now.

"Again, you better be nicer to me, Princess."

If he was not so tired, Deidara would have long kicked Hidan in the crotch.

"I've changed my mind. Shut up and get out of my house, un."

Hidan wrinkled his nose. "So unpleasant," he commented. "See, this is exactly why you're single. Your fuse is too damned short." Deidara snorted at this, knowing all too well that Hidan himself was not a very patient man – the way the man got into a rage every time someone other than Deidara dared to belittle him (or his beloved Jashin. Deidara never attempted to belittle him, though) was proof of this. "If you'd just lighten up a little, maybe more people would ask you out. The only way anyone would be interested in you is if they're deaf." Then, he added, sniggering, "... or imaginary."

Blue eyes glared at Hidan angrily, but Hidan still had that annoying smirk plastered on his face, as though daring Deidara to snap at him. But then, Deidara's eyes slid from Hidan's face to the brown envelope on his lap.

"What's that, un?" He pointed.

"That's my crotch. You like it?"

Deidara whacked him upside the head – "Ow!". "You know exactly what I'm talking about!" he snapped.

His lower lip stuck out in a pout, Hidan rubbed the back of his head, where Deidara had hit him. "That hurts," he complained. But he held the envelope up anyway. And waved it in front of Deidara's face. "Give me ten bucks and I might just tell you. Throw in a can of beer, and it's five bucks."

"I'm already paying you for being a shitty manager. I'm not paying you for that."

Hidan pulled the envelope back. "Well, then I guess you'll never know what's inside."

The glare on Deidara's face deepened, but instead of losing his temper, like he so obviously wanted to, he held up three fingers.

"Huh?" Hidan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"I'm gonna count to three. If you don't tell me what's in that envelope, I'll beat you up and kick you out of here myself."

"Ha ha!" Hidan snorted. "You're funny, kid."

"One."

Deidara lowered one finger.

"As if a midget like you would be able to do anything."

"Two."

He lowered a second finger.

"Seriously, I can kick your ass any day. I just haven't gotten round to it 'cause I'm getting money from you."

"Two and a half."

He lowered the third finger halfway.

"... You're not serious, are you?"

"Thr-"

"Okay, okay!" Hidan pushed the envelope into Deidara's hands, ignoring the triumphant smile on his face. "Here it is! It's a fucking script!"

The smile slowly disappeared, giving way to a chuckle. "A script?" Curious, he opened the envelope and pulled out a sheaf of papers. When he saw the title at the top of the page, the blond immediately stopped chuckling. Deidara's eyes widened, and his hands shook ever so slightly. His eyes widened even more when he saw the printed name of the director below the title.

"This... this is..." he said in disbelief.

"Yeap." Hidan placed his hands at the back of his head, resuming his air of smugness. "I did good, didn't I? You've been without a role for months. This is your lucky break, so you better not screw it up. I had a hell of a time trying to get you an appointment. Audition's in two weeks. You owe me lunch."

Deidara was speechless. He just could not believe it.

"What?" Hidan said. "No hug? No thank you? No kiss- no, wait, don't give me a kiss, I don't even swing that way- Ack!"

Excited, Deidara had hugged him. Hard. "Thank you, un!" Holding the script close to his chest, he stood up before speeding off to his bedroom, leaving behind a bewildered Hidan on the couch. "I'm gonna practice right now!"

"Heh..." After coming down from his initial shock, Hidan chuckled. "Silly kid... He can be so cute sometimes."

As if on cue, Deidara pushed the door to his bedroom open and poked his head out. "Oh, and, Hidan, un?"

"Yeah?"

"I still want you out of my house."

And then he slammed the door shut.

_... So much for being cute. _

* * *

><p>"<em>Ethereal<em>, un."

Even after reading the title of the movie that he might, no, _will_, star in was not enough to convince him that this was really happening. He did not really know what_ Ethereal_ was about, but he knew enough about it to know that it was the talk of the entertainment business, that it was a remake of some famous old movie and that it was going to be directed by the one and only Tsunade. Movies directed by her spawned more awards, and famed actors and actresses than he could count on his ten fingers. The woman was a freaking legend. Any person that managed to get a role in any of her movies should consider themselves lucky. From what he had heard, the auditions were brutal.

"Hmm..."

Deidara was on the bed, lying on his stomach, the script propped in front of him. He took in a deep breath, and opened it, his eyes eagerly devouring its contents. There were only about three pages with two scenes in it, and apparently, he had to create his own monologue on the character. There was also a small summary of what the movie was about.

_Ethereal_... It was a love story about a student and a ghost. He furrowed his eyebrows slightly. Well, it was not something that he usually did – he had never acted in anything remotely romantic before, most of the movies he had acted in were action movies, or thrillers – but he could deal with it. It was about damned time he acted in something different anyway - he did not want to be typecasted. So, he went on reading. From what he could tell from the script, the character he was supposed to play was one of the main characters. The student. Alright. That was good. He kept on reading, then paused. Wait a minute... He reread that paragraph. The part where the student was talking to the ghost.

The ghost was supposed to be a _he_?

...

So this was supposed to be a gay movie?

Deidara bit his bottom lip.

... Huh.

He closed the script.

No matter.

Anything for his art. He could deal with kissing some random guy on-screen if he had to.

It was not like his costar was going to be anyone that mattered. To him, a costar was a costar, and nothing more. Right now, the only thing that mattered was nailing the audition. Hidan may have gotten him an appointment, but he still had to ace it.

And with that, Deidara hugged the sheaf of papers close to his chest once more, then lay down with his back on the bed. A grin crept up on his lips. He could almost kiss the papers. He had a good feeling about this movie. A really, really, really good feeling. Like there was nothing that could possibly ruin it, or get in his way of obtaining that coveted role.

This was one role that that stupid Uchiha was not going to take away from him. He was sure of it.

* * *

><p>Itachi was fast asleep when his cell phone rang. <em>Who on Earth...?<em> he thought, as he slowly broke out of his slumber. His mind still clouded with sleep, he reached out for the gadget that was set on the coffee table in front of the couch. He flipped it open and held the cell phone against his ear. He could barely keep the sleepiness out of his voice when he spoke;

"Itachi Uchiha speaking."

"Ah, Mr. Uchiha. It's Shizune here – the one in charge of casting?" a woman's voice crackled at the other end of the line.

Itachi frowned, not completely awake. He was still getting over his jet lag. _Shizune_... He tried to retrieve that name from his memory bank. _Shizune... Ah_. An image of a dark-haired woman came to mind. She had been carrying a little pet pig with her that day. He sat up a bit more. "For the movie _Ethereal_?"

"Yes, the very one," she said. She sucked in a breath, trying to contain her excitement. "I'm just calling to inform you that you've got the role. Congratulations!"

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><p><strong>DIOR:<strong> I was supposed to be writing the latest chapter of one of my Bleach fics when this happened. Blame my short attention span xD This idea was supposed to be for GrimmUlqui, but I decided that this pairing is more suited for it. So, this makes _Star Struck_ my first Naruto fic. I hope it's okay. Chapters will probably get longer later on. Reviews are appreciated.


	2. Audition Time

Shizune felt like she was going to die.

They had been holding auditions for the role of Akashi Hayato for days now, and Tsunade was not satisfied with any of the candidates. They must have already met and recorded the auditions of hundreds of people, and still, Tsunade had flat out rejected every single one of them, even the talented and famous ones, saying that they were not right for the role. Tsunade was so unhappy with Shizune's choices that the woman had decided to come to judge the auditions as well. After watching so many abysmal auditions, it was no wonder that there was a vein throbbing in Tsunade's temple.

But it was not only Tsunade who was frustrated. The rest of the crew were as well, especially since Tsunade had joined the judging. Her wrath was formidable.

Sighing, Shizune propped her chin on the palm of her hand as she watched Tsunade stop a candidate halfway through her monologue.

"What are you even doing here?" Tsunade snapped at the surprised girl. "Have you not read the script?" She jabbed a red-painted nail at a sheaf of papers in her other hand. "Akashi Hayato is supposed to be a male." The vein in her temple pulsed. "_Male_."

This was going to be a very long day.

Tsunade whirled on Shizune, glaring. "How did her resume get accepted, anyway?"

A very, very, _very_ long day.

Without even waiting for a reply, Tsunade hollered, "Bring the next one in!"

For her own sanity, and the rest of the crew's, Shizune hoped that their Akashi would be found by today, else they suffer from Tsunade's wrath once more.

* * *

><p>Two weeks had come and gone.<p>

For two weeks, Deidara had rehearsed the two scenes in the script to death – so much that Hidan had avoided coming round to his apartment, for fear that Deidara would force him to practice the scenes with him, over and over and over again. But of course, in the end, Hidan had practiced with him; albeit half-heartedly.

_There was a moment of silence as they held each other's hands and gazed into each other's eyes, both actions filled with tenderness. Deidara tightened his hold on Hidan's hands and leaned forward, his lips parted ever so slightly. Blue eyes looked up into Hidan's under dark lashes. Not once, not once did they break eye contact. This was it. The moment of confession. This was... it was... Deidara licked his lips, nervous._

"_Kei," Deidara murmured. He reached up to caress Hidan's cheek. "I love you."_

_Hidan's reaction was instantaneous:_

_He shuddered._

"_Forget this," _Hidan said, letting go of Deidara's hand, his face pale._ "This gay crap is making me wanna shit in my pants. You may look like a chick, but this is too fucking creepy."_

_It took Deidara a whole hour of yelling to convince Hidan to continue acting with him._

Hell, he had even made Hidan watch every single one of the monologues he had prepared, and Hidan, being Hidan, was not very helpful at all. All the man said about Deidara's monologues was, "Yeah, yeah, they're all fucking great. Can I leave now?". Not that Deidara minded, really. He already knew which monologue he wanted to do; all he wanted was an audience.

Now that two weeks have passed, Deidara was more confident than ever.

He was going to nail this audition. He just knew it. He could feel it in his very bones. He was not just being confident this time – he just _knew_.

This was not going to be like before. He had worked so hard for this. There was no way that he could be wrong.

Satisfied with this thought, Deidara ran a brush through his hair one last time. His long blond hair fell and framed his face for just a moment before he swept half of them up into a half-ponytail. He had to make sure that he looked good. He needed to make a good impression on the judge or judges, whoever they were.

"Oi, Deidara-chan," came Hidan's voice from outside the bathroom. "I know that you wanna look good and everything but... What the FUCK are you doing in there?"

Deidara did not bother to answer him.

"Are you shaving your legs?" Hidan demanded.

Tch.

Without taking his gaze away from the mirror, Deidara snapped, "Will it hurt for you to just _wait_, you bastard?"

"Yes, it hurts, thanks for asking," Hidan responded. "I had to clear my freakin' schedule for this, and I had to wake up too damned early, too." Of course, Hidan definition of 'early' was far from his. Deidara could hear Hidan plop himself onto his bed. "There're a heck of a lot of things I'd rather do than babysit brats. For instance, stabbing myself."

Deidara rolled his eyes. Such a drama queen. Hidan had been complaining since yesterday, after Deidara asked if he could give the blond a ride to the audition, and he had been complaining even more since he arrived here. If he was going to complain so much, he should not have agreed to it, Deidara had told him – "But I was drunk when I agreed!". He chose to ignore Hidan, knowing very well that if he retorted, their argument would escalate, and he did not want to waste his energy on that. Besides, he needed the ride, and it was too late to find another one. It would take time for a taxi to get here.

"You know, we wouldn't even be having this conversation if you'd just get a damned driver's license."

He unzipped his bag and checked its contents, Hidan's rants now reduced to mere background noise to him.

"There're a heck of a lot of things I'd rather do than wake up at ungodly hours in the morning. For instance, stabbing myself."

His resume and headshot? Check. A change of clothes just in case the ones he was wearing got dirty? Check. The script? Check. A list of emergency telephone numbers and extra headshots? Check, check.

Deidara took in a deep breath, then released it.

"There're a heck of a lot of things I'd rather do than drive you around. For instance, stabbing myself."

He had memorized his monologue – he had practiced it so much, he knew it by heart now. With the exception of the audition, he was completely free today – he had made sure of that. He had also gotten a good night's sleep.

"There're a heck a lot of things I'd rather do than lay down here completely sober. For instance, stabbing myself."

He was ready.

"Then why don't you stab yourself?" Deidara said dully.

He zipped up his bag.

"Because, there're a heck of a lot of things I'd rather do than stab myself. For instance, living."

He swung the bag over his shoulder and walked over to the door. He could practically feel Hidan's impatience radiating through it.

"Dammit, while you're busy growing pubes in there, mine are turning silver! Just hurry the fuck up!"

Deidara was almost amused. Almost. That bastard was still talking?

He placed his hand on the doorknob, and twisted it.

"Che." The door creaked open, revealing a well-dressed Deidara, a Deidara who was ready to kick the asses of the rest of the candidates. "You know, assuming that your hair is naturally silver," Deidara said as he stepped out of the bathroom. "Then you should be silver down there too, hm."

"..." Having no suitable comeback for that, Hidan just growled, "Wiseass," then dragged a smug Deidara to the car.

* * *

><p>When they reached their destination about half an hour ago, Hidan had finally cooled down enough to stop the string of curses that had been flowing out of his mouth since they started their journey. He was even in a good enough mood to manage a grin. They had arrived quite early, so they could sit in the waiting room for awhile. Cracking his knuckles, Hidan looked around the room.<p>

The room presented to him the usual image of hopeful candidates rereading their scripts, some of them mouthing their lines as they read, some of them reading aloud, some of them scanning the pages before them silently. The candidates comprised of the famous, the somewhat popular, the unnoticed, the has-beens and the newbies. Some of the hopefuls were with their parents, some were alone, very few were with their managers (_I'm too damned nice for my own good. Deidara-chan should be grateful to have an awesome manager like me_). He recognized quite a number of people out of all the faces present here.

The air was filled with tension.

_Heh_, Hidan thought, picking out a few white-faced teenagers. _These kids have nothing on Deidara-chan_. He paused when his eyes caught sight of a spiky-haired man sitting in a corner, a fidgety young man sitting right next to him. _Looks like Kakashi is accompanying a brat too_.

While Hidan was busy measuring the competition, Deidara kept turning the script over in his hands. Though Hidan had told him that it was not necessary for him to memorize the script, that the judge would just want to see how he would be able to deliver those lines, he did so anyway. He wanted everything to be perfect, after all. Bored, he flipped through the pages of the script, more out of habit than anything else, his mind hardly taking in anything written on it. When was it going to be his turn already? He was so fucking ready. They had come here early so that they would not miss their appointment, but this was taking too damned long.

Sighing, Deidara gave up and read his script again.

Again, he was met with the contents of the script. The character that he was supposed to play was called Akashi Hayato, a high school student who had just moved into a new house with his family. Akashi had done so reluctantly, because he could feel the presence of a ghost in that house, and from experience, ghosts were not too pleasant to hang around; sure, some were nice, but there were those that had been walking on the face of the Earth for so long, they tended to be rather clingy... or crazy. This ghost, Kei Takahiro, however, was different. Kei was perfectly content with solitude. He wanted nothing do with Akashi, and refused to move on.

And then somehow, they fell in love, blah blah blah-

"Deidara." A woman opened the door to the audition room. She pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose, her eyes trained on the clipboard in her hands. "Mr. Deidara, it's your turn now."

Sitting up straighter, Deidara could feel anticipation well up in his chest.

This was it.

"Oi."

"Hm?" Hidan tore his eyes away from Kakashi and looked at Deidara. "What?"

Deidara stood up. "My turn, hm."

"Ain't gonna wish ya luck. I know you'll do just great, kid."

"Thanks." Deidara smirked. "Also, Hidan, un?"

"Yeah?"

Deidara stomped on his foot. "This is for signing me up for this role without asking for my permission or telling me that the movie is totally gay."

Hidan winced. _Bloody motherfu-_ Biting his bottom lip, he said, "Fair enough." He rolled the magazine he was reading into a tight roll and promptly smacked the back of Deidara's thigh with it. "Now, get in there and floor 'em, bitch."

* * *

><p>Having just handed his resume in, Deidara stood in the middle of the stage, smiled and bowed to the people gathered in the room out of respect. It would not do to get cut out of the running just because he was rude.<p>

Blue eyes scanned the room that he was in, taking his surroundings in. There was the cameraman who was going to record his audition, the judges, and a few other people. Out of all the people gathered here, he only recognized one of them, and that was the director, Tsunade. Though some of them smiled back at him, the looks on their faces told him that they were all tired and just wanted him to get down to it. Tsunade, in particular, did not look very happy. She eyed Deidara, her face fixed in a frown and her lips drawn into a thin line, as she tapped her pen on the table impatiently.

He would have to be careful with her – he had heard that she was ruthless.

"My name is Deidara and-"

"We know that already," Tsunade interrupted. "Just show us what you've got. Act out the two scenes in the script and show us your monologue." To a pale, dark-haired male, she said, "Sai, get your butt up there and act with him."

Sai did so without question. He bowed before walking up to the stage.

Yeah. Definitely ruthless.

Deidara, who had a temper of his own, had to bite down on his tongue to stop himself from retorting. Apparently, everyone else was used to her snapping at people as they did not even bat an eyelid when she snapped at him.

_She's going to be a difficult person to work with_, he thought.

He slipped his script into his back pocket, and barely managed a smile. The dark-haired woman sitting next to Tsunade returned the smile. Tsunade, however, did not, choosing to study him with a critical eye. Figuring that that was the best he would be able to get out of her, he turned around to face Sai, and was about to open his mouth to start when-

"Deidara?" One of the women in the room perked up. "The very same one that acted in _The Outbreak_?" When she saw that it was indeed the very same Deidara, a light shade of pink spread across her cheeks. "I- I'm a big fan-"

"Shut it," Tsunade snapped. "Just let the boy do his thing." She turned to gaze at Deidara, as she twirled her pen. "Start," she commanded.

And so, with his mind clear of everything else but his role, Deidara started.

* * *

><p>After hour upon torturous hour of watching and analyzing each and every audition, they were all finally able to rest. But not for Shizune, though. She was busy rifling through the resumes of all of the candidates. Every time she showed Tsunade someone she thought might make a good Akashi Hayato, Tsunade would frown, shake her head, and promptly put that resume onto the Reject pile.<p>

The Reject pile was bigger than the Maybe pile. In fact, there was none for the Maybe pile.

Shizune could feel a bead of sweat slide down her brow. Tsunade could be so difficult at times. If she did not pick someone now, they might just have to schedule another round of auditions for Akashi. Remembering the blond that had auditioned a few hours ago, she pulled out Deidara's resume. A headshot of a smiling Deidara that was stapled to the resume stared back at her.

"Hm..."

For someone who only had one movie to boast about, the boy was quite good. His performance had kept her on the edge of her seat. Being able to pull off something like that even though Sai had the acting skills of a plank was definitely something – it was not easy to act with someone who barely had any _emotion_ put into his acting. At least, that was what she thought. She did not know what Tsunade thought of him, but since Tsunade had kept demanding him to repeat his scenes in different ways ("Sound angrier!", "Look happier!", and so on), that must have been a good thing. It meant that Tsunade was interested in him. He was one of the very few that had to stand her abuse today.

"How about this one?" She showed the director the resume.

Tsunade looked at the resume for a long while, her eyes narrowed as she bit her nail – a bad habit of hers.

If she looked at the paper any harder, Shizune was sure that it would burst into flames.

There was a pregnant pause.

Tsunade turned her face away with a "Hmph". At first, Shizune's heart sank, thinking that they would have to go through another round of judging, until she heard the older woman say in a soft tone, "He'll do."

Even after they went through all the resumes, Deidara's was the only one that was in the Maybe pile.

It looked like they had their Akashi.

* * *

><p>Now that he had sent Deidara home, Hidan was able to do whatever the hell he wanted without having to listen to that prissy little princess. Having met Hatake Kakashi just now, he had invited the man to meet at a coffee shop for a drink or two. He had not spoken to Kakashi in awhile, so they had a lot to talk about.<p>

"So." Hidan popped his canned drink open. "Do ya have any idea who's gonna be Kei..." He tried to remember the name of the other main character. "Kei Takahiro, right? Yeah, that's the one." He gulped down a bit of his drink. "One of the main characters. Any idea? Or they haven't chosen yet?"

Kakashi looked to the left, to the right, then at Hidan. He leaned close and whispered the name of the chosen actor into his ear.

Hidan nearly spat his drink out.

"You fucking serious?" he choked. "_That_ guy is gonna be Kei?"

Kakashi nodded. "He's away right now, but he'll be back soon."

_Oh, hell_... Hidan rubbed his cheek, as he digested this new piece of information. He groaned inwardly. _Deidara-chan ain't gonna be happy_...

He could already picture Deidara throwing a tantrum over this in the very near future.

It was not going to be a pretty sight. The last time Deidara had gotten angry over that guy, he had pretty much smashed nearly every breakable item in his living room.

...

Actually, now that he thought about it, it would be hilarious to watch those two work together._ If_ Deidara got the part, of course, and Hidan was sure he would. Smirking, Hidan tipped his head back as he drank from the can again. Damn fucking hilarious.

_Have fun working with Itachi Uchiha, Princess._

* * *

><p><strong>DIOR:<strong> An early update for Deidara's birthday! Happy birthday, Dei-chan - here, have an Itachi... soon. xD Reviews are appreciated.


	3. Absent Costar

It was late at night when Itachi Uchiha suddenly opened the door to his hotel room and stumbled in. Light from the hallway flooded in, casting light upon the bed, where a suitcase laid open. Even though exhaustion was tugging at his very bones, he did not allow himself a moment's rest before he started to pack his belongings. He had packed most of his things last night, now was time to pack the rest, and he had better hurry. He had about half an hour to finish up before he had to head to the airport. So, in went the rest of his clothes, and toiletries. Used to doing things with limited time on his hands, it did not take Itachi long to finish packing.

A glance at his watch. Fifteen minutes left.

Half an hour to get to the airport.

About two hours till his flight out of here.

His flight would take about ten hours.

Then, he had about an hour to rush for the first meeting of the _Ethereal_ cast.

Damn his busy schedule.

Itachi groaned as he slipped his hand through the sleeve of his jacket. These past few weeks had been filled with nothing but meetings, meetings, and more meetings. His days would begin early in the morning, and would only end late at night, when he would finally reach his room and collapse on the bed. It was exhausting, to say the least.

He could not wait till he was finally home so that he could just sit back and relax.

And hopefully – he picked up the newspaper on the bed and frowned at it – there would not be anything to ruin that.

Five minutes later, with ten minutes to spare, Itachi left the room with his suitcase in hand.

The newspaper was thrown into the wastebasket, unneeded.

* * *

><p>Deidara was restless.<p>

Ever since his audition, he had done nearly nothing but sit by the phone, waiting for Hidan's call, hoping that his manager would tell him that he had gotten the role. During those times, he really wished that he had left his number instead of Hidan's in the stupid form.

Every day, he would call Hidan. In the morning, in the afternoon, at night, no matter what the time, he would call Hidan without fail. He had even called Hidan at about four in the morning – and promptly got yelled at; Hidan, like most people, did not like being woken up for such a reason.

In fact, he could vaguely remember what Hidan had yelled at him during the time.

"_You bloody little- wait till I get my hands on you! Do you have any idea what time it is? Give it another half an hour, and it'll be five! I have to meet a potential client in a few hours! Are you out of your bloody mind? Quit calling me all the time! I swear, you're such a woman. I'm going to put you in a damned headlock the next time I see you! For the last time, that woman hasn't called me about your role yet-"_

... And something something, and something something. After Hidan had said that the casting director had yet to call him, the rest was pretty much babble to Deidara.

Deidara knew that he should find something else to do, but he just could not. He was much too anxious.

He had lost count of the number of times he recounted the events that happened during the audition. He remembered the way Tsunade had yelled at him, the way she would bite her lower lip during some parts, the way her eyebrows would furrow when he said certain lines. Fuck, he especially remembered the way she scrutinized his every fucking move, as though waiting for him to make a mistake. If there was a time where he had felt a bit pressured to perform well, it was then. The woman was like a damned hawk just waiting to rip him apart. Not once, not once during his entire performance did she applaud him. In fact, the most he had gotten out of her was a "Hmph."

Seriously, what the flying fuck was _that_ supposed to mean?

Was his acting too stiff?

Was he good enough?

Did someone else get the role?

What did Tsunade think of his monologue?

Did she think it was bad?

And when he could not find the answer to any of these questions, he would start getting annoyed. He would criticize Tsunade and everyone else in his mind (but mostly Tsunade, since she really ticked him off during the audition. The pushy bitch. Her movies aren't even that great). What did they know about talent? They probably would not know what it is even if it hit them in the head, and his talent had come at them head-on at the speed of a freaking bullet train.

...

But what if they were right? What if he really was not good enough? What if-

Deidara picked up the phone again, and did what he had done numerous times this past week;

He dialled Hidan's number.

_Come on, you asshole. Pick up, pick up, pick up..._

The tone barely beeped three times before a loud bang made Deidara look up.

* * *

><p>Right outside the apartment building, a silver car came to a stop as it parked itself at a nice parking spot near the entrance. Hidan pushed the car door open, got out and shut it close. Groaning, he locked the car and staggered into the building.<p>

Seven nights.

For seven damned nights, he did not get enough sleep.

And all because of one reason.

"Stupid Deidara," he grumbled, punching the number 6 when he got into the lift.

Just keeping his eyes open took a lot of effort. He did not even know how he had managed to drive himself here without getting involved in an accident.

Again, stupid Deidara.

Hidan rubbed his eye, completely worn. He was so tired, there was no way he would be able to muster the energy to put Deidara in a headlock like he had promised he would. Good God... He had always been one to sleep late, and since Deidara liked calling him so damned early in the morning, well... It was not something good for him.

_Ding._

The elevator doors opened. Hidan's foot was barely halfway out when his cell phone beeped, indicating that Deidara had called once again.

His eye twitched.

Forget a headlock.

He was going to _murder_ Deidara.

* * *

><p>"I swear to God." The door to Deidara's apartment was kicked open. Behind the once closed door stood a very miffed-looking Hidan. His hair was in disarray, there were dark circles under his eyes, and he had his cell phone pressed against his ear. He did not look very happy.<p>

"If you called to ask me about the fucking audition again," Hidan growled. "I'll fucking tear you a new asshole."

Deidara blinked, surprised, still holding the phone. "... Un?"

"Here." Hidan threw a file at Deidara, who caught it. "You got the fucking job. Now leave me the hell alone, bitch."

And he walked into Deidara's guest room, where he collapsed onto the bed. All those sleepless nights as a result of Deidara's constant calls had taken a toll on him.

Hidan groaned, hugging the pillow close. "Sleep... I need some fucking sleep..."

* * *

><p>Everything was going according to schedule. Everything. He had managed to pack his belongings on time, he had managed to get a taxi on time, he had managed to reach the airport on time... but of course, nothing ever goes exactly as planned, now, does it? Because that is just not how life works. There is bound to be some bumps along the road. So, guess what happened a few minutes before he was supposed to board the plane.<p>

Anyone?

No answers?

Not a single one?

Sigh.

Well, his flight got delayed.

Due to bad weather.

Which was wonderful.

Just... wonderful.

Itachi slumped in his seat and rubbed his temple. He could feel a headache coming on. He would be stuck here for a few hours at most. There was no way that he would be able to attend that meeting. And there was also no way Tsunade was going to be happy about this... (But then again, when was that dragon ever happy?)

Slipping his hand into his pocket, Itachi pulled out his cell phone. Since he did not have the director's number, he dialled the number of his manager. With that done, he pressed the gadget to his ear. It did not take long for his call to get answered.

"Hello? Itachi?" came a man's voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Kakashi," Itachi said.

"Why on Earth are you calling me so early in the morning?" Kakashi yawned. "And isn't it time for your flight there? You should be boarding the plane already."

"Yes, yes." Itachi pushed the sunglasses that he was wearing up the bridge of his nose, not eager to get recognized. "About that..."

* * *

><p>This time, Deidara did not ask Hidan for a ride. Not because Hidan was still annoyed with him, but because the older man was still in Deidara's guest room, out like a light. The guy looked so tired that Deidara, as much as he would love to make life difficult for Hidan (as payback for being such an asshole sometimes), just did not have the heart to wake him up. He would have to get back at him some other time, then.<p>

So, that morning, after Deidara had made sure that he had locked everything up, he went off to the building on his own. Doing so was easy since Hidan had provided him with a map to the place – it was in the file that Hidan had thrown at him.

He had managed to get there without any trouble at all. He was early, and the moment he entered the room, he saw that just about everyone was there. The directors, the managers... they all looked rather tired, what with Tsunade bossing them around. The actors and actresses, on the other hand, either seemed rather bored or nervous. No one greeted Deidara upon his entrance, nor did they pay him any heed. He was treated like he was an ordinary person of no significance.

But with the way Tsunade was blazing down on a woman called "Shizune", whom he recognized as one of the judges from last week, he supposed that this was a good thing.

"What do you _mean _he won't be able to attend the meeting?"

"E-eh, well, his manager called and..."

Honestly, Deidara swore that that woman must be on constant PMS.

Quietly, he picked out an empty seat and sat in it. The meeting began not long after, and, just like every other first meeting for movies that he had attended, it was boring. Of all things they were to talk about, they talked about the _financing_ of the movie, which had absolutely nothing to do with the actors and actresses at all. If not for the fact that he did not want to incur a certain blonde director's wrath, Deidara would have skipped this meeting altogether.

None of the things that Shizune told them interested him in the least. Though he knew quite a number of them, Deidara was not very impressed with the actors and actresses chosen to act in the movie either. Most of them spent far too much time trying to get the attention of the paparazzi than honing their talent, in his opinion. But still, he supposed that even with all of that time-wasting, they were still rather good... he supposed.

Now, where was Kei Takahiro?

His eyes scanned the room for the one who would most likely be his love interest in the movie. He wanted to at least know what the guy looked like before having to suck his face off during the kissing scene. However, each male he laid eyes on were either too young for the part, or too old for it.

Where the heck was the guy?

_There is no way any of these guys could be Kei_, he thought, as he eyed a particular old geezer.

Che. How annoying.

He had always hated guessing games. No patience for them.

When he was sure that Tsunade was not looking his way, Deidara nudged the person sitting next to him. Deidara recognized him as the guy who was made to act with the blond during the audition. What was his name again...? Sai. It was Sai. Sai, right?

"Hm?" Sai looked up from his sketchbook. The bastard was actually doodling in the middle of the meeting.

"Oi," Deidara said, his voice a whisper. "Where's the guy who's supposed to act as Kei, un?"

"Him? He's not here yet."

Deidara furrowed his eyebrows. What was the guy, nuts? With a director like Tsunade, who in their right mind would actually have the gall to be late for a meeting?

"Not here yet?"

"I think I heard them saying that his flight got-"

Something that looked suspiciously like a water bottle came whizzing past their ears.

"Deidara! Sai!" Tsunade's voice boomed throughout the entire room. "Pay attention!"

* * *

><p>Two days. Two days of costume fitting. Those two days practically rushed past without Deidara noticing it. It seemed that everyone was busy doing whatever they had to do. For those two days, the crew would bustle about while a few people would take the measurements of the actors and actresses. The person Deidara had gotten to work on him was called Kurenai Yuhi. She was a nice woman, and Deidara was thankful to have her – some of the others were not so fortunate, and had gotten a pink-haired woman by the name of Sakura Haruno to work on them. From what Deidara could tell, that woman's temper was nearly as bad as Tsunade's - God help those who somehow manage to incur her wrath.<p>

And again, thankfully, he did not have to stick around for too long for costume fitting. Since this movie was set in the present, they could get most of their clothes from shops. It was clothes for certain scenes that needed to be custom-made. It was a good thing that Kurenai was a fast worker, else he would have died from boredom. It only took her a short amount of time to design his outfits, and he found himself liking each and every one of them. She seemed to concentrate on designing clothes that brought out, as she had said, his "best features".

So...

Two days. Two days of costume fitting.

And no sign of his missing co-star on either day.

Not that it mattered, really; he did not even bother asking anyone who was his co-star. He would meet that person soon enough, anyway. Tomorrow, they would have to do a photoshoot, and after that, there was going to be a conference. Since attendance was necessary for the photoshoot, Deidara would be able to meet the guy tomorrow.

Deidara stretched his arms above his head as he walked out of the room, another day over. He was sure that whoever his co-star was, that person was not anyone interesting.

* * *

><p><strong>DIOR:<strong> And there you have it. The third chapter. Finally. Short chapter is short, though DX Sorry for the long wait, everyone. University was being a real killer, but right now I'm on sem break, so hopefully I'll be able to update more? :D Also, in case anyone is wondering why Itachi got the call concerning his role directly instead of through his manager, it's because his manager was sick, and being the awesome person Itachi is, he decided to take calls concerning these things himself for awhile (and because I wanted to have Itachi make an appearance in the first chapter, ha :P). Reviews are appreciated.


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